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AN 



ADDRESS 

DELIVERED ON THE EVENING OF THE 

TWENTY SECOND OF FEBRUARY, 
MDCCCXLVII. 



BEFORE THE 



YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION 



CITY OF ALBANY. 



BY WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 

v« 



JCBLISHED BY REQUEST OF THE BXECUTrVB 
COMMITTEE. 



ALBANY : 

PRINTED BY JOEL MUNSELL. 

1847. 




TO THE 
GENTLEMEN COMPOSING THE YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION 

OF THE CITY OF ALBANY, 
THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, 

WITH EARNEST WISHES 

THAT THEIR CHARACTERS MAY BE CONFORMED 

TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS MODEL WHICH IT COMMEMORATES, 

BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT, 

W. B. S. 



ADDRESS. 



If any one were to ask me so strange a 
question, as, Where he might look for a re- 
cord of the character of "Washington, I might 
properly enough answer, Look upward, and 
read it on the face of these heavens, so bright 
at noon-day, so serene at evening ; for to the 
eye of a slave nothing is bright ; to the heart 
of a slave nothing is serene; and but for 
Washington, who can tell but that we might 
have been an enslaved nation to this hour? 
If this should be rejected as fanciful, I might 
say, Look abroad among the nations, and 
read it in the deep veneration with which 
many of the great and good pronounce his 
name; in the hearty welcome with which 
many an American is greeted to this day, for 
the sake of the Father of his Country. Or 



if this should not be thought palpable enough, I 
might say, Look over our own happy land; mark 
the simplicity, the dignity, the efficiency, of 
our'institutions ; see every thing, but the one 
leprous spot upon our body politic, telling of 
enlightened freedom; count up, if you can, 
the springs of private and public prosperity, 
which are centered in our independence ; and 
remember that in all this life and beauty 
and power, Washington lives; that there is 
scarcely any thing around us, save the air we 
breathe, for which we are not indebted to his 
wisdom and energy. Or if this should be 
pronounced insufficient, inasmuch as it is not 
a written record, I might turn over my inquirer 
to one of our most illustrious historians, who 
has immortalized himself, not more by his 
theme than by the manner in which he has 
treated it ; who, in giving us the productions 
of Washington's mind, has portrayed his 
matchless character with such fidelity, that 
we seem to have before us the whole man, 
body, soul and spirit, in all his perfect propor- 
tions, and all his colossal dimensions. Or 
even if this should be objected to, as too 
voluminous a work for ^persons of ordinary 
leisure, I would say there is still no reason to 



despair of a satisfactory answer to the inquiry ; 
for in Washington's Farewell Address, which 
it requires but half an hour to read, there is 
a glorious epitome of his whole character. If 
the world holds another civil document which 
combines more of truth and wisdom and 
dignity, than this, I know not where to look 
for it. It ought to be as familiar to us all, as 
the first lesson which our parents taught us. 
It ought to be as accessible to the eye, as if it 
were written in letters of light, and hung up 
in mid-heaven. The rising generation, every 
young man especially, ought to carry it near- 
est to his heart, and ponder it night and day. 
Be this then the subject of the present com- 
memorative exercise, — Washington's charac- 
ter, PARTICULARLY AS ILLUSTRATED BY HIS FaRE- 

WELL Address, a study for the young men of 
OUR Republic 

In fixing the time, you have also virtually 
designated the subject, of my address; and, 
in doing so, I hardly need say that you have 
forbidden even the attempt to lead you into 
any other than a most familiar path. And I 
am glad that it is so. I am glad that the 
character of Washington stands out so pro- 
minently, that it can be known and read of 



8 

all men. The sun is not the less glorious to 
my eye, becavise I know that he has been 
shining upon the world for ages, and that all 
the dwellers upon earth are familiar with his 
illuminating and quickening beams; nor is 
the theme on which I am now to discourse to 
you, the less grateful to my heart, because I 
know that eloquent tongues and eloquent 
pens have glowed with it, until nothing that 
is worthy to be said, can be said, but at the 
expense of acknowledged repetition. I aspire 
to no higher office, on this occasion, than that 
which he who exhibits a magnificent picture, 
performs, as he calls the attention of his visit- 
ors to its more striking peculiarities, while 
yet they can examine it for themselves as 
minutely as they will. Yonder is our picture, 
hanging as if amidst the splendours of the 
sun. I shall have fulfilled my purpose, if I 
may be permitted to ask you not only to no- 
tice its general harmony and beauty and 
incomparable effect, but to pause a little upon 
some of those peculiar features, out of which 
chiefly, its irresistible attraction arises. 

Let me ask you, in the first place, to contem- 
plate the intellectual character of Washington, 
as indicated by this matchless document. 



Notice the admirable clearness of his per- 
ceptions, the perspicuity of his style, his 
ability to produce in another's mind the per- 
fect image of what exists in his own. I know 
that with a certain modern school of think- 
ers and writers, this quality is any thing but 
a recommendation. They live and move and 
have their being in the mist. Their hearts 
are ever open to the novel, the wild, the 
curious; but the true, the good, the useful, 
must look for advocates elsewhere. You can- 
not put yourself in communion with them, 
but you feel that you are walking in darkness, 
and know not whither you go. But this 
mode of thinking, by no means, marks the 
highest order of intellect; and this mode of 
writing is nothing less than an imposition 
upon the world; for, however a man may 
abuse his own mind by a course of dark and 
absurd speculation, he surely has no right to 
tax other minds to follow him in his perplex- 
ing and profitless mazes. Washington's ad- 
dress, thrown in among the nfystical writings 
of the day, would be a light shining in a dark 
place. It contains not a sentence nor a part 
of a sentence, to comprehend the meaning of 
which the mind of the humblest peasant need 



10 

to pause. And because it is so intelligible, a 
superficial reader might imagine that any 
body could haA^e written it; and yet this is 
one of the very qualities that render it so in- 
imitable. But it is nothing more than a fair 
reflection of its author's mind. It belonged 
to him, in a pre-eminent degree, to perceive 
truth clearly, and to express it as clearly as he 
perceived it. No matter what might be the 
subject upon which his mind or his pen was 
employed, it was thrown into a flood of sun- 
beams : certainly his thoughts were never re- 
corded, till they were so simple both in matter 
and form, as to be level to the humblest intel- 
ligence. 

Another attribute of his mind, as here deve- 
loped, was comprehensiveness. He discerned, 
as if by intuition, every element and every 
condition of the body politic. He contem- 
plated its healthful action, and indicated the 
means of its continuance. He contemplated 
its diseased action, and prescribed the appro- 
priate remedies. His eye ran along the distant 
future, and his pen, with unerring certainty, 
recorded what was to be, and marked out for 
the embryo nation, its path to a glorious desti- 
ny. He looked upon every event that occurred 



11 

ill its beariiif^ upon the state, with the eye of 
a philosopher; viewing it, on the one hand, as 
the eftect of some cause or train of causes, and 
thus analogically shedding light upon the fu- 
ture; and on the other, as being in its turn a 
cause, requiring to be w<atched and guided, in 
order to secure the appropriate result. He was 
thoroughly at home amidst the deepest springs 
of human action: nothing Avas so distant, but 
that his far-reaching mind seemed to overtake 
it ; nothing so intricate, but that it yielded to 
a glance of his searching eye. 

Here also we have evidence of wonderful 
power of concentration. Show me a docu- 
ment, if you can, either of ancient or modern 
date, occupying no greater space than this, 
that has in it so much of deep and strong 
thought, so many practical lessons in civil 
polity, so many earnest admonitions to adhere 
to the right, as this farewell address contains. 
What is written in these few pages, might 
have easily been expanded into a volume ; and 
the marvel is, that any mind could have con- 
densed so much. But it was characteristic of 
its illustrious author, to say much in a little, 
and to stop when he had done. He saw 
intuitively the multiform bearings of every 



12 

subject to which his attention was directed, 
and he knew how to select the most practical, 
the most important, the most impressive. It 
was emphatically true of him, that his words 
were few and well chosen. He never spoke, 
or wrote, or acted, on any great occasion, but 
the energies of his vast mind seem to have 
been brought to a point, and to have operated 
as efficiently as if they had been trained with 
exclusive reference to the particular end to 
which they were directed. 

I will only add in respect to his intellectual 
endowments, that the address upon which I 
am commenting, shows that he was gifted 
with consummate taste. The style is perfectly 
adapted to the subject; and the language is 
chosen with such uniform and rigid exactness, 
that criticism herself retires from it in despair. 
I have read it over and over, to see if I could 
find a single sentence or a single expression 
that could be replaced by a better ; but I have 
been constrained to the conclusion that, if 
there are faults there, my eye cannot detect 
them. Is it not wonderful that a taste so exact 
and exquisite, could have been formed, not 
only without the advantages of early intel- 
lectual culture, but amidst protracted scenes 



13 

of war and tumult ; that a hand which had 
been trained so almost exclusively to the use 
of the sword, could, as occasion required, wield 
the pen in a manner which might shame a 
very master of rhetoric ? 

I have attributed to Washington great intel- 
lectual powers; but mere intellect never de- 
cides the character. The intellects of Gabriel 
and Lucifer, for ought I know, may be alike ; 
but the one is a shining seraph, the other a 
prince among fiends. If we knew nothing of 
Washington, apart from his intellectual con- 
stitution, we might be unable to conjecture 
whether his history was that of an Alfred or a 
Gustavus Adolphus on the one hand, or of a 
Julius Caesar or a Napoleon on the other. It 
is the moral element that decides the charac- 
ter for good or evil. Fortunately the founder 
of our republic was alike gifted in the moral 
and the intellectual. The pulsations of his 
noble heart were a simple response to the act- 
ings of his noble mind. Let the immortal 
document before us be our witness to the truth 
of this declaration. 

The spirit which breathes and glows pre- 
eminently, from the beginning to the end of it, 
is the love of country. The fact that his life 



14 

had been devoted to his country's service, and 
liad been rendered tributary, under God, to 
her substantial welfare, and that the morning 
star of promise in respect to her glorious des- 
tiny had dawned upon him, was evidently the 
great fact upon which his thoughts reposed 
with the most intense satisfaction. He stands 
forth as an earnest and eloquent expounder of 
all the great principles of national prosperity. 
He recommends courses of policy, — the result 
of his profound reflection and vast observa- 
tion, — fitted, as he believes, to secure the sta- 
bility of our institutions. He discovers in the 
distance, rocks and whirlpools and tempests, 
amidst which he fears that our vessel of state 
may founder ; and he would fain have her pro- 
vided, so far as possible, with the means of her 
own protection. He commits the institutions 
which he had been instrumental of establish- 
ing, to the fostering care of his countrymen, 
with as warm a solicitude as a parent would 
feel in providing a suitable guardianship for 
his own child. And the spirit which animated 
this noble effort, instead of being kindled for 
the occasion, was the ruling passion of his life. 
The miser does not love his gold more than he 
loved his country. Alexander never longed 



15 

more intensely to see the world at his feet, than 
he lono"ecl to see his country great and good, as 
well as free. It seemed like the very breath 
of his life ; a primary element of his being. 
He sustained indeed other relations than to his 
country; and he sustained them all gracefully 
and honourably; but this so far eclipsed all 
others, that though you should be familiar with 
everything else concerning him, you might be 
said to have his whole history yet before you, 
.so long as you were not acquainted with the 
records of his patriotism. 

But the development of his love of country 
involved the development of a cluster of other 
great and generous qualities; all of which 
shine ont with unrivalled lustre, from the docu- 
ment we are contemplating. 

To what mere human record will you look 
for such sublime political wisdom as is here 
exhibited? I mean not that wisdom which 
consists in knowledge alone; nor yet that 
which does not rise above the character of mere 
sagacity, irrespective of the end to which it is 
applied ; but I refer to that quality in which 
the intellectual and the moral unite, thus se- 
curing the selection of the best ends and the 
fittest means for their accomplishment : and in 



16 

this kind of wisdom, especially as it stands 
related to the state, I ask, fearlessly, who so 
great as our Washington ? What end in re- 
spect to his country could he have proposed to 
himself so noble as the preservation of her 
liberties, and her exaltation on the basis of 
truth and right, to be a glorious example to 
the world ? And what means for the attain- 
ment of this end, so reasonable, so fitting, so 
practicable, as those which are here so perspi- 
cuously and beautifully detailed ? It were easy 
to show, if the time would allow a minute 
analysis of the paper before us, that all that 
the greatest and best minds have ever devised 
for the welfare of the nation, since that period, 
is at least shadowed forth in this almost un- 
earthly production. He saw with a prophet's 
eye ; he wrote with a prophet's pen ; and when 
we see how much more he knew of the future 
and how much wiser he was in providing for 
it, than other great men of his age, even the 
greatest, we are ready almost to say, without 
a figure, that he was a prophet indeed. 

Nor was his wisdom greater than his integ- 
rity. In suggesting a caution against inter- 
weaving our destiny with the destinies of other 
nations, he says, " Tis our true policy to steer 



17 

clear of permanent alliances with any portion 
of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are 
now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be un- 
derstood as capable of patronizing- infidelity to 
existing engagements. I hold the maxim no 
less applicable to public than to private affairs, 
that honesty is always the best policy. I re- 
peat it, therefore, let those engagements be 
preserved in their genuine sense." And this 
is but a sample of what he was always and 
in every thing. He reverenced conscience as 
God's representative in his soul ; she was his 
counsellor by night and by day; and her teach- 
ings, though they came only in a whisper, he 
never disregarded. In the course of his event- 
ful life, there were some attempts made to put 
him in conflict with his own principles; and 
there were occasions on which a mind of al- 
most any other mould than his, would have 
been in danger of yielding; but he always 
triumphed over the temptation and scorned 
the author of it. What a contrast to Arnold 
the traitor — a name which it would be unpar- 
donable to mention here, except as its dark- 
ness and loathsomeness seem to throw the 
name of Washington into a brighter glory. It 
were not a more hopeless undertaking for the 



18 

Parthian to shoot his arrows against the sun, 
or for the maniac to put forth his hand to over- 
turn the everlasting hills, than it was for any 
power on earth or in hell, to attempt to bring 
this great man even into a questionable atti- 
tude in respect to integrity. 

Here also we find a beautiful illustration of 
his magnanimity, — that noblest form of human 
virtue. In announcing his determination to 
withdraw from the chief magistracy of the 
nation, he distinctly declares that in the re- 
peated acceptance of the office, he had sacri- 
ficed his own personal wishes to what appeared 
to be the voice of the people ; and the whole 
tenor of his remarks shows that he would have 
sacrificed them still farther, if he had believed 
that the welfare of his country demanded it. 
And in speaking of the treatment due to other 
nations, he says, " It will be worthy of a free, 
enlightened, and (at no distant period) a great 
nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous 
and too novel example of a people always 
guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. 
Who can doubt that in the course of time and 
things, the fruits of such a plan would richly 
repay any temporary advantages which might 
be lost by a steady adherence to it ?" It were 



19 

quite too little to say that he was a stranger to 
everything sordid and selfish: his magnani- 
mity was a high, strong, positive feeling, which 
came out in a corresponding course of conduct, 
and made itself felt by every mind within the 
range of its operation. No man understood 
military tactics better than he ; and in the 
prosecution of the war, he displayed the utmost 
skill and foresight in all his movements. But 
he never exercised his sagacity at the expense 
of his honour. He kept even the enemy with 
which he was contending, impressed with the 
conviction that he was not merely a great war- 
rior, but in the best sense, a great man. I 
remember to have seen a letter addressed to 
him by the accomplished General Burgoyne, 
after he became a prisoner of war, soliciting 
some private favour ; and he justifies the liberty 
by saying that certain traits in Washing- 
ton's character which the incidents of war 
had brought under his observation, had made 
it easy for him to forget his official relations in 
the admiration which he felt for his personal 
qualities. A noble testimony from an illustri- 
ous foe ; — a testimony that is abundantly con- 
firmed by the history of his whole life. 

Observe, next, the breathings of his humility 



20 

and modesty from this incomparable address. 
Hear his own language — ■"■ I will only say that 
I have, with good intentions, contributed to- 
wards the organization and administration of 
the government, the best exertions of which a 
very fallible judgment was capable. Not un- 
conscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of 
my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, 
perhaps' still more in the eyes of others, has 
strengthened the motives to diffidence of my- 
self: and every day the increasing weight of 
years admonishes me more and more that the 
shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it 
will be welcome. Satisfied that if any cir- 
cumstances have given peculiar value to my 
services, they were temporary, I have the con- 
solation to believe that while choice and 
prudence invite me to quit the political scene, 
patriotism does not forbid it." And again — 
" Though in reviewing the incidents of my ad- 
ministration, I am unconscious of intentional 
error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my 
defects not to think it probable that I may have 
committed many errors. Whatever they may 
be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert 
or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. 
I shall also carry with me the hope that my 



21 

country will never cease to view theitn with 
indulgence ; and that after forty-five years of 
my life dedicated to its service, with an upright 
zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be 
consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be 
to the mansions of rest." Did ever a great 
man stand forth more thoroughly attired in the 
garments of humility? Did ever one form an 
opinion of himself so inferior to that which the 
whole world had formed concerning him? 
There is nothing here of the silly cant of affec- 
tation; for he claims for himself an honest 
devotion to the best interests of his country ; 
nor does he depreciate the importance of the 
results to which, by the blessing of Heaven, 
his labours have been brought ; nevertheless, 
he is deeply conscious of his own imperfec- 
tions; and he loses sight, in a great measure, 
of his particular agency, in the united agency 
of the common country, and especially in the 
benignant control of an ever wise and watch- 
ful Providence. Is not his modesty, I ask, 
among the brightest of his attractions ? Do 
not all his other great and good qualities gather 
fresh lustre from the humble estimate which 
he himself placed upon them ? 

You would naturally conclude that such a 



22 

charact('r as this must have been formed in the 
school of Him who was meek and lowly in 
heart ; and if we look again into this farewell 
address, we shall find that it is pervaded by a 
deep sense of the importance of religion, espe- 
cially by a strong feeling of dependence and 
obligation. No man ever felt more deeply, or 
expressed more strongly, than he, the necessity 
of religion as a means of public and national 
happiness. Here again, listen to his impressive 
words: — "Of all the dispositions and habits 
which lead to political prosperity, religion and 
morality are indispensable supports. In vain 
would that man claim the tribute of patriot- 
ism, who would labour to subvert these great 
pillars of human happiness, these firmest props 
of the duties of men and citizens. The mere 
politician, equally with the pious man, ought 
to respect and cherish them. A volume could 
not trace all their connections with private and 
public felicity. Let it simply be asked, where 
is the security for property, for reputation, for 
life, if the sense of religious obligation desert 
the oaths which are the instruments of inves- 
tigation in courts of justice ? And let us with 
caution indulge the supposition that morality 
can be maintained without religion. Whatever 



23 

may be conceded to the influence of refined 
education on minds of peculiar structure, rea- 
son and experience both forbid us to tixpect 
that national morality can prevail in exclusion 
of religious principle." I would not claim 
more, under this head, for the Deliverer of our 
country, than the truth will warrant. I do not 
pretend that Washington's religious character 
was so strongly marked as was that of Wilber- 
force for instance, whose spirit was always 
glowing with the fervours of devotion ; or that 
of the celebrated Colonel Gardiner, after the 
Christian had succeeded to the profligate ; but 
I mean that, making all due allowance for the 
circumstances in which he was placed,' — cir- 
cumstances in many respects the most adverse 
to the cultivation of the Christian graces, we 
have reason to believe that he was habitually 
controlled by the fear and the love of God ; 
and if any insulated incidents that would seem 
to speak a different language have come down 
to us, we are constrained to regard them not 
as proving the absence of a principle of reli- 
gion, but only as evidence of an imperfect 
Christian development. The spirit of Chris- 
tianity seemed to preside over his whole public 
as well as private life; and unless history 



24 

brings! us a false report, he forgot not that the 
eye of the Invisible was upon him, even amidst 
the terrible scenes of the battle-field. 

And yet another attribute of his character, 
as illustrated by this legacy of truth and wis- 
dom, — an attribute which may be considered, 
in one sense, as the crown of all the rest, is 
its admirable symmetry. It is rare to find a 
perfectly balanced character, even where the 
qualities which compose it rise not above a 
humble mediocrity. And it is rarer still to find 
an assemblage of the loftiest qualities so har- 
moniously combined, that no one can say that 
any one quality casts any of the rest into the 
shade. And yet who that knows any thing of 
Washington, — who, especially, that reads his 
farewell address, can doubt for a moment, that 
he was pre-eminently one of these rarest spe- 
cimens of human character? Our country 
can indeed boast many other names that are 
deservedly called great ; but, in almost every 
instance, if you scrutinize closely, you find 
some doubtful spot that you wish to hide; 
something to disturb harmony, or mar dignity, 
or lessen usefulness. Washington, on the 
other hand, not only possessed every quality 
that belongs to true greatness, but so far as we 



25 

can see, possessed all in perfect proportions. 
The intellectual, the moral, even the physical, 
are so admirably blended, that every one feels 
that the elements of his character must have 
been weighed out in a perfectly even balance; 
and no one thinks of exalting one of his facul- 
ties at the expense of another. I well know 
that this is not the type of character which 
multitudes love to contemplate; for many 
have a passion for the monstrous as well as 
the marvellous. It is a common remark that 
genius is eccentric ; and hence not a few ad- 
mire eccentricity from its supposed alliance to 
superior intellect; and some even feign eccen- 
tricity, as a means of acquiring an intellectual 
reputation. Bat this quality, where it actually 
exists, always supposes imperfection: a correct 
taste uniformly condemns it. It may be noto- 
rious for a little time ; but it is like the tran- 
sient and startling light of a meteor — not like 
the clear and steady shining of the sun. Cases 
indeed there are in which ill- balanced minds 
possess great strength, and make themselves 
every where known and always remembered ; 
but the admiration which they excite at first, 
rarely survives their own generation. Napo- 
leon's name no doubt will live as long as 



26 

Washington's; but the one will gather around 
it, in the distance, a darkness that can be felt, 
the other will shine brighter and brighter unto 
the perfect day. 

In thus glancing at some of the leading 
traits of our country's chief Benefactor, you 
perceive that I have scarcely looked beyond 
the document from which I proposed to gather 
my materials. But though I have purposely 
kept myself within these narrow limits, aware 
that, if I should go beyond them, I should find 
myself in a field too vast to be occupied or 
even successfully entered within the brief hour 
allotted to me, I must not forget to remind you 
that each of the traits to which I have referred, 
to say nothing of others to which I have not 
had time to refer, as illustrated by this memo- 
rable document, is variously, I had almost said 
endlessly, illustrated by the history of his bril- 
liant career. What I have said, with his fare- 
well address before me, may suffice as the 
starting outline of his character; but if you sit 
down to the careful study of his life, you will 
find that the little that you have now heard in 
illustration of his greatness, compared with 
what is furnished by authentic history, is but 
the first hint of a lawyer's brief, in comparison 



27 

with the most elaborate and protracted argu- 
ment. I would not indeed be afraid to trust 
to this unparalleled document to vindicate the 
claims of its author to the character of the first 
man of his age, — nay, of one of the noblest 
specimens of the race. I look upon it as that 
in which his greatness, his goodness, the epi- 
tome of all that belongs to his memory, is 
embalmed ; and if it were possible that the 
time should ever come, when every other wit- 
ness concerning him was dumb, this of itself 
would keep his name glorious and glowing to 
the end of time. Nevertheless, in our estimate 
of him, it is iitting that we include his whole 
history, instead of limiting ourselves to a single 
point, no matter how important ; and I pledge 
myself to those who have not already made 
the experiment, that, if they will follow him 
from the beginning to the close of his career, 
each successive step will increase their admi- 
ration of his character, by throwing into a 
brighter light some one or more of the exalted 
qualities that compose it. 

Such a character as Washington's must have 
been designed by Heaven to accomplish won- 
derful results; but it is manifest that it can 
never exert its legitimate influence without 



28 

being known; and it can never be known 
without being studied. It becomes then an 
important question, in what manner it should 
be studied in order that the desired end may 
be secured. 

Need I say that, in this case as in every 
other, the character must be studied in the life. 
If you will find out what a man is, you must 
first find out what he does; for the life is the 
only true revealer of the heart. Washington's 
history is to be collected from a thousand 
sources. You may, if you please, begin with 
the farewell address; but if you will be just 
to yourself, you must not end there. You must 
read, so far as you can, all that he has written, 
and all that has been written concerning him. 
You must even gather up all authentic tradi- 
tions of him that may come in your way ; in 
short, you must act upon the admission that 
no circumstance, however trivial, that serves 
to ilUistrate his character, is too unimportant 
to be carefully treasured up. You occasionally 
meet now with an old man, who has once, or 
perhaps often, stood in Washington's presence ; 
who remembers his august person, his con- 
siderate and dignified manner, and perhaps 
some weighty words that fell from his lips. I 



29 

counsel you not to be afraid of asking such a 
man too many questions. You owe it to your- 
self and your country that you draw from him 
whatever his memory retains ; and that you 
not only turn it to good account as material 
for your own private contemplations, but em- 
body it in some substantial form, that it may 
meet the eye of those who come after you. It 
was once my privilege, in the earlier part of 
my life, to pass considerable time in a family, 
the heads of which were not only among 
Washington's nearest relatives, but had actu- 
ally, for many years formed part of his domes- 
tic circle. His name became to my ear like a 
household world. His noble face was always 
looking down upon us from the canvass. The 
furniture of the dwelling was his gift, and 
some of it had actually been used by himself, 
and had descended as a legacy. I regret that 
I did not better improve the privilege I then 
enjoyed, of gathering and treasuring interest- 
ing facts connected with his history. I re- 
member only enough of what I heard, to be 
ashamed that I remember so little. None of 
you may have so good an opportunity of learn- 
ing what he was from those who knew him 
best; still there are innumerable sources of 



30 

authentic information Avithin your reach, and 
I cannot doubt that you will take counsel of 
my want of wisdom, and eagerly and gratefully 
avail yourselves of them. 

Washington's character is to be studied as 
well in its individual features, as in its general 
effect. In one act you may read his humility ; 
in another his self-government ; in another his 
high sense of justice; in another his gene- 
rosity ; in another his reverence for the divine 
character and providence, and for the truths 
and precepts and institutions of Christianity; 
in another his glowing patriotism, in which all 
these other qualities wotild seem to be com- 
bined : each act you are to refer to its appro- 
priate disposition ; in other words, you are to 
hold the history to your mind, till the charac- 
ter comes out of it. And when you have found 
out the various elements of which the charac- 
ter is composed, then you are prepared to study 
it as a whole ; to take in its combined qualities 
at once, just as the eye, by a glance, compre- 
hends the mingled colours of the bow. And 
when the character thus gathered, has fairly 
imprinted its image upon your mind, that 
image will remain with you as the glorious 
companion of all your hours; as the true 



SI 

representative of greatness and goodness. You 
can even redeem time in the contemplation of 
it; for when you have nothing else to do, here 
you can find standing occupation ; and those 
are far from being wasted hours that are spent 
in this noble study. Yes, you must view the 
character in its component parts, or you will 
never suitably estimate its entire effect. Be- 
come familiar with each of its various qualities, 
and they will group themselves into a magni- 
ficent form, which may itself very properly 
become the study of a life. 

Washington's character should be studied in 
the influences by which it was formed, and the 
influences by which it operates. 

Its elements were supplied by the Creator; 
they were once bound up in the mind of an 
infant; and because that infant was thrown 
into a world of antagonist influences, no wis- 
dom but that of the Highest could decide 
whether they were to be moulded into one 
form or another. There was indeed true no- 
bility in embryo; but who could tell what 
these corrupt and withering blasts that are al- 
ways sweeping over the world, might do to nip 
that bud of promise ? Fortunately, the first 
place on Avhich the infant rested, was a place 



32 

of safety: it was a bosom hallowed as the 
dwelling of truth and goodness, between which 
and the Heaven of heavens there was a con- 
stant intercommunion. And the aspirations 
which that mother breathed forth for her pre- 
cious charge, were such as infinite mercy and 
faithfulness are pledged to regard. And the 
first light that shone upon that infant's mind 
was the pure light of an excellent mother's 
teachings and example : it is not too much to 
say that it was her influence that gave to his 
faculties their first and ultimate direction. 
When you have seen how much he was in- 
debted to parental and domestic influences, 
you may follow him into the world, and you 
will find him cast upon a theatre wonderfully 
fitted to the development of his powers. The 
movements of his mind seemed to harmonize 
with all the movements of providence. Though 
he was always in places of trust and honour, 
he never occupied one of his own seeking. He 
found his country in most delicate and perilous 
circumstances; with much of the lofty spirit 
of freedom, amidst the breathings of a deep 
disquietude; and the news that they were 
forging manacles for her beyond the sea, 
brought her into the attitude of stern resistance ; 



33 

and he was designated to conduct the enter- 
prize, — an enterprize which filled the world 
with wonder, and took from the brightest 
crown on earth the choicest of its jewels. And 
after our national independence was acknow- 
ledged, such a man as he could not go into 
retirement. There was glorious work found 
to be waiting for him. His hand had gained 
the victory, and his brow must wear the lau- 
rels. And hence we quickly find him in the 
chief magistracy of the nation ; discharging 
the duties of the statesman with the same 
ability and success, which had before marked 
his course as a warrior. I need not enter into 
any of the particulars of his history : suffice it 
to say that the circumstances in which he was 
placed, would seem to have been as well 
adapted to the formation of his noble charac- 
ter, as if that had been the only end for which 
Providence designed them. The more you 
contemplate these circumstances in detail, the 
more you will know of the process by which 
Washington's name has become the admira- 
tion of the world. 

But it is no less needful, if you will study 
this character to good purpose, that you should 
note the influences by which it operates; in 



34 

other words, that you should consider the won- 
derful train of causes and effects which his 
agency has constituted, and in which he is 
ever fulfilling his mission as an angel charged 
with blessings to the world. 

I shall not be suspected of claiming too 
much for him, when I say that he was the 
master spirit in the most perilous and the most 
glorious scenes of our country's history. Be 
it so that he had many illustrious coadjutors, — 
but is there one of them who would not be con- 
strained to retire before his superior splendour ? 
I would indeed pronounce their names with re- 
verence always ; I would encourge Patriotism 
to build monuments to their honour; I would 
invoke Gratitude to lay her fragrant offerings 
upon their graves ; I would have their noble 
deeds chronicled, as if in letters of gold, that 
the memory of them might be securely trans- 
mitted to the latest posterity; but I would not 
admit, even in thought, that the greatest of 
them all had ever earned the laurels of Wash- 
ington. It was his hand that guided us through 
the perils of the revolutionary conflict, to the 
dignity of national independence. It was his 
wisdom, far more than that of any other man, 
that contributed to form the glorious consti- 



35 

tution under which we live. And as he was 
the first occupant of the Presidential chair, and 
remained in it during a period of eight years, in 
which were settled a variety of weighty ques- 
tions incident to the earliest operations of the 
government, it is not too much to say that he 
gave the first impulse to the machine, which 
he had had a primary agency in constructing, — 
an impulse which we trust will not cease to be 
felt, while our free institutions continue to 
exist. And thus the very same circumstances 
and actions by which his own character was 
so nobly developed, became in turn a channel 
through which his influence operated to secure 
and establish his country's freedom. 

In due time Washington died. The bosom 
that had been so long the nursery of lofty pur- 
poses, gathered the coldness and insensibility 
of a clod. The voice through which wisdom 
and power had been accustomed to speak, was 
hushed in a silence that will yield only to the 
voice of the archangel. That majestic form, 
which needed only to be seen to be admired 
and reverenced, disappeared not only from the 
scenes of public life, but from the retirement 
of his dwelling and his chamber; and the 
whole world knew that the sepulchre had 



36 

claimed it. But it was little that death ac- 
complished after all; for even before death 
had done its work, the noble character was 
embalmed in all its life and power; provi- 
sion was already made by which it would as 
certainly become the property of each succes- 
sive generation, and perform for each a glorious 
work, as that the ordinance of Heaven changes 
not. Look around you, my countrymen, and 
see how bright is the light in which you are 
walking. Contemplate the means of personal 
safety, of intellectual and moral culture, of 
domestic and social enjoyment, and above all, 
the privilege of exercising without constraint 
and without fear, the right of thinking for your- 
selves, — and say whether, in view of these 
blessings, which are as free to you as the air 
you breathe, your pulsations are not sometimes 
quickened even into a glow of rapture. But 
believe me, in all this, you are only receiving 
the breathings of the spirit of Washington. 
The causes which he put in operation before 
death palsied his hand and congealed his life- 
blood, continue to operate with undiminished, 
nay with constantly increasing vigor. Though, 
when you think of his body, you are obliged 
to think of the grave ; and when you think of 



his soul, your mind involuntarily rises to a 
purer region, yet there is a sense in which you 
realize his presence still in the midst of you: 
you feel that he is at work in much of the 
good that you experience ; and that his spirit 
can never be dislodged from these free institu- 
tions, till the institutions themselves are swept 
from the earth. 

But if we will estimate aright the work 
which Washington was raised up to accom- 
plish, we must not stop with our own country, 
but must take in the world ; we must not limit 
ourselves to the past and the present, but must 
include the future also. It is the nature of 
influence, that it is at once cumulative and 
diffusive. It may become less perceptible, 
especially to a superficial observer; but it 
really grows stronger as it grows older ; and it 
is always working for itself new, though oiten 
secret, channels. We trust in the gracious 
Ruler of the world, that these institutions in 
which we now rejoice, will shed their light 
upon us, without even a temporary eclipse, so 
long as the sun and the moon shall endure; 
and if this bright vision of our faith should be 
realized, who can calculate the amount of 
blessing to be dispensed to our country in the 



33 

progress of ages ? But we are to bear in mind 
that we are a city set upon a hill. Young as 
we are in the family of nations, the nations 
are still looking towards us, some with a jeal- 
ous, some with a grateful, all with a watchful 
eye ; and it would be false modesty in us not 
to feel that our influence already circles the 
globe, and that it cannot otherwise be than 
that, in the common course of events, it should 
tell mightily upon the world's destiny. When 
I see our country, yet in her infancy, repre- 
sented all over the world, not only through her 
commercial enterprize, but her philanthropic 
and missionary ardour, and especially her well 
established political relations; when I mark 
the heaving of enslaved nations, premonitory, 
as I cannot doubt, of the approaching end of 
that system under which they have groaned so 
long; and especially when I hear of men of 
mark and men of might, with their eye turned 
towards these shores, boldly avowing their pre- 
ference for republican institutions, I am not 
slow to believe that, at no distant period, the 
tree of liberty first planted here, will be send- 
ing forth its scions throughout the whole earth ; 
and mark it, when that day shall come, the 
world will be full of the glory of our Washing- 



* 



39 



ton. His influence has darted across the ocean, 
and is at work there with mighty energy, al- 
ready ; but I expect that it will ere long per- 
form greater works than these. I look for the 
time when it shall stamp every iron sceptre as 
a hateful thing. In the vista of future years, 
I seem to see Spain and Italy, bowed for so 
many ages beneath the oppressor's rod, walk- 
ing erect, and breathing the pure air of free- 
dom. My eye traverses the vast empire of 
Russia, where the immortal mind shudders 
to find itself thinking its own thoughts; it 
stretches over the wilds of Siberia, that prison- 
house of the world ; it takes in the wide region 
in which Mohamedism points a sword at the 
heart of every man who would be free ; — and 
throughout this immense dominion I see ty- 
ranny brought down into the dust, and liberty 
well established upon her throne. I do not 
say that Washington's influence has done it 
all ; but I believe that when this glorious vision 
shall be realized, Washington's spirit will have 
breathed upon that wide spread desolation; 
and posterity need not marvel, if they should 
hear of monuments erected to his memory, 
of songs sung to his praise, even in the ends 
of the earth. 



40 

And to crown all, Washington's character 
should be studied in a manner to involve the 
vigorous exercise of the moral as well as the 
intellectual faculties; it should be studied not 
merely that it may be known, but that it may 
be admired, loved, imitated. Y^ou are only on 
the surface of any great subject, when you 
have reached a correct apprehension of the 
truths which pertain to it. There is an inward 
sense lodged deep among the sensibilities of 
the soul, which takes up such a subject where 
a mere intellectual perception leaves it ; and 
you feel then that you are not only in contact 
with truth, but in contact with its loveliness 
and power. If it be an illustrious character 
that you are contemplating, you seem to 
breathe the atmosphere which it creates; the 
inmost sanctuary of the spirit is thrown open 
to you; and if you take note of your own in- 
ward experience, you quickly come to realize 
that the beautiful object on which your eye 
lingers so gratefully, is gradually impressing 
its image on your heart. When every fact in 
the history, and every trait in the character, of 
our country's Deliverer, that is within your 
reach, has become familiar to you, you have 
still done nothing to purpose, if all this is 



41 

to serve no higher end than to furnish ma- 
terials for curious speculation, or to furnish 
occasion for an ostentatious display of your 
knowledge. You must take up and inwardly 
digest with the moral what has come to you 
through the intellectual. You must let the 
great man come into your heart, and maintain 
a sort of empire among your affections. In 
short, you must feel that you are studying the 
character as a model, and must never rest con- 
tented while there remains in it any thing of 
attainable excellence, which has not become 
engrafted upon your own character. 

Where now is the man, where especially is 
the American citizen, to whom the study of the 
character of Washington is not a most fitting 
employment ? May not the military man study 
it, to learn the nature and the operations of 
true heroism ? May not the politician study 
it, that he may not confound the statesman 
with the demagogue, the patriot with the par- 
tizan? May not the private citizen study it, 
that he may become more deeply impressed 
with the dignity of civil government, and more 
earnest in the discharge of the duties which 
he owes to it ? Especially may not, ought not, 
every young man to study it, as a fountain of 



42 

light upon the path of his duty, as a fountain 
of strength to enable him to walk in it ? It is 
with this latter class that I am now specially 
concerned; and I doubt not that the young 
men composing the association which I have 
the honour to address, will pardon me, if, in 
the few remarks which I am now to make, 
illustrative of the importance of studying this 
exalted character, I speak directly to them, as 
if they were the authorized representatives of 
the whole body of young men within the limits 
of this republic. 

I say then, gentlemen, it is due to self-regard, 
that Washington's character be as familiar to 
you as the face of a friend, as dear to you as 
your country's honour. Are you not the ad- 
mirers of true greatness ? Does not the man 
of cultivated powers, and lofty aims, and heroic 
deeds, find favour in your eyes? When you 
think of such a man, with a character bright 
as the light, and a conscience void of offence ; 
honoured in his life, honoured in his death, 
honoured in his memory; are you not con- 
strained to say that to be like him is to be all 
that the noblest ambition can crave ? Believe 
me, in studying Washington as a model, you 
are in the way to the attainment of this object. 



43 

In the contemplation of his moderation and 
self-government, his firmness and dignity, 
his justice and generosity, his reverence for 
the divine authority, his trust in the divine 
providence, his hearty acknowledgment of the 
divine testimony, you are brought directly into 
communion with the spirit of true greatness 
and goodness ; and if prejudice or passion does 
not intervene, that spirit will work within you 
both to will and to do. I say again, study this 
character, as you would accomplish the legiti- 
mate end of your existence. Study it, as you 
would be virtuous and useful, honourable and 
happy. 

Patriotism also lifts up her voice, and charges 
you to put yourselves into communion with 
this greatest of patriots. Your country's insti- 
tutions, in all their delicate and complicated 
machinery, and in all the responsibility that 
pertains to them, are about to be surrendered 
to your guardianship. The great minds that 
are labouring for them now will quickly have 
done their work; the great hearts that are 
beating to their prosperity will be cold beneath 
the turf; and this whole acting generation will 
be moving in other spheres and mingling in 
other scenes; but you and such as you will be 



44 

here, to speak and act, and if need be, to suffer, 
for their defence and preservation. Who knows 
what tempests may rise and beat upon the na- 
tion in your day; — especially what lightning 
and hail may come forth from that dark cloud 
which has been so long hanging in our South- 
ern sky ? Who can tell what exigencies may 
arise either from our domestic or foreign rela- 
tions, to require the most profound wisdom, the 
most invincible firmness? Who can assure 
you that you may not have to meet some 
awful crisis, in which the life or the death 
of the nation's liberty, shall be decided by a 
single measure or a single vote ? Oh if I could 
know that you would not only be familiar with 
the life but imbued with the spirit of Wash- 
ington, I should know that you would be ade- 
quate to any emergency; I should feel that 
there was nothing to fear for the safety of my 
country's institutions, even in the darkest 
times. For you could not sit at Washington's 
feet and take counsel of his wisdom, you could 
not get your hearts beating in unison with his 
great and patriotic heart, you could not keep 
his venerable image always before your eye, 
without having both the mind and the will to 
protect and transmit the inheritance which he 



45 

hath bequeathed to n.s. Only let his farewell 
address be engraven on the memory and the 
heart of the young men of the nation, and till 
they shall have gone to their graves at least, 
there will be a Avail of fire round about our 
liberties, which will be proof alike against 
treason and faction at home, and jealousy and 
tyranny abroad. 

Philanthropy too has a word to say in favour 
of the duty which I am urging; for Washing- 
ton's patriotism was not at the expense of his 
philanthropy ; it was consistent with it ; it was 
even a part of it. He loved his country not 
merely because it had furnished his cradle and 
he expected it w^ould furnish his grave, but 
because he saw that it was destined to be a 
mighty theatre of humanity; and that what- 
ever was done for it, was done for the improve- 
ment and elevation of the race. Here was 
indeed the only field in which he directly 
laboured ; but his benevolent wishes, aye and 
his benign influence, compassed the world. 
Instead of desiring a selfish monopoly of the 
blessings of freedom, it was his prayer that 
every nation might be as free and happy as 
his own. In his devout aspirations, he stopped 
nothing short of the universal reign of truth 
and peace and virtue. 



46 

In the sacred name of Philanthropy, let me 
say, Go ye and do likewise. Do you ask, 
AVhere ? I answer, the world is your field. 
Wherever there is ignorance to be enlighten- 
ed, wherever there is vice to be reclaimed, 
wherever there are chains to be knocked off, 
wherever there are tears to be wiped away, 
wherever the body or the spirit is in want, 
there, ther3 is appropriate work for you. And 
if you require that I should be more particular 
still, I would say, join with hearty and vigor- 
ous co-operation in the struggle against the 
monster intemperance, which is still abroad, 
blasting hopes and multiplying graves and 
leaving the impress of the brute upon the no- 
blest forms of humanity. Not only banish him 
from your society, but if you can, kill him, and 
hide his loathsome carcass where the w^orld 
shall never look upon it again ; and if you suc- 
ceed in this, you will have set a large propor- 
tion of earth's stricken hearts to throbbing for 
joy. And as I have mentioned one field of 
philanthropic labour, I may as well mention 
another ; — ^for who can forget, in such a con- 
nection as this, poor starving Ireland ? The 
sun does not shine upon a nation more instinct 
with generous feeling; nor upon one which, 



47 

at this hour, has a fuller cup of anguish wrung 
out to her. Her sufferings are so deep that the 
whole world is obliged to take knowledge of 
them ; her groans so piercing that we seem to 
hear them from across the sea, mingling with 
the winds that come from that enchanting but 
unfortunate island, that beautiful dwelling 
place of want and wretchedness. Fly, ye 
young men, to the work of mercy. Fly to that 
phrenzied mother before she does the desperate 
deed to the child which she is pressing to her 
bosom ; whose cries for bread she is unable to 
satisfy; and rather than endure them much 
longer, she is fast working herself up to stifle 
them in death. Fly to that old man who has 
looked on every side for a morsel to sustain 
him, and because no hand is reached forth for 
his succor, he is making ready to stretch him- 
self on a rough board for his final slumber. 
Fly, by your grateful charities, all over that 
extended territory in which famine has set up 
her dominion, and see how those warm hearts 
will cling to you, and those wo-worn counte- 
nances be relumed with smiles, when they 
understand your mission as angels come to 
help. Young men, I know that ye cannot 
stand aloof from this m ork. Many of you, I 



48 

believe, are doing it already ; and I am sure 
that you will do it with the greater alac- 
rity, when you remember that it is just the 
work upon which Washington would have 
smiled. 

I will detain you only to say that to refuse to 
study Washington's character, is to be unjust 
to his memory ; nay, it is to turn away from 
the teachings of a wise and merciful Provi- 
dence. You may be in danger of overlooking 
the obligation, because you share it with the 
country at large ; but, believe me, you are as 
truly and as deeply indebted, as if the wing 
of his favour had been stretched over you 
alone ; — nay even more so, — for your own in- 
terests are the more secure from being identified 
with these great institutions which involve the 
interests of so many. And besides, you have 
facilities hereby secured to you for labouring 
for the common good, which a generous mind 
surely will not reckon among the least of its 
blessings. Is it so then, that Washington's 
life has been a free-will offering to the safety 
and dignity of the country to which you be- 
long ? Has he fought battles and won victories 
for you ? Has he projected great plans of na- 
tional improvement, that you might be the 



49 

better for them ? Has he left on record words 
of wisdom and of weight, that you might be 
instructed by them ? In a word, is he, by way 
of eminence, the Father of your co untry ? Say 
then, if gratitude be due to a benefactor, what 
should be the measure of your gratitude to 
him. And can there be a more appropriate 
expression of it, than the earnest and practical 
contemplation of the life which he led, of the 
character which he formed, in his devotion to 
American liberty? Besides, if you consider 
this matter well, you are obliged to feel that 
a greater than Washington is here. Wash- 
ington's country commissioned him to his 
work; but God gave him to his country. God 
constituted him with those noble endowments; 
and ordained all the influences by which his 
character was formed; and opened his way to 
every place of authority which he occupied ; 
and guided him, as by a pillar of cloud and of 
fire, in all his movements. Heaven's wisdom 
was in his counsels; Heaven's might was in 
his arm; Heaven's goodness was in his heart; 
and in all that constitutes his character, there 
is a voice from Heaven, challenging your 
earnest regard. Am I not justified then in 
saying that, in refusing to study this great 



50 

character, you offend against the memory of 
Washington ;• you offend against the mercy of 
God? 

But you will not thus offend, — I know you 
will not ; and one pledge of it I read in the 
spirit which hath instituted this evening's ser- 
vice. It was a noble impulse, Mr. President, 
that led you and your associates in the direc- 
tion of this institution, to look forward to this 
glorious birthday, months before it dawned 
upon us, and to resolve that it should be hal- 
lowed by some mark of appropriate and grate- 
ful recognition. If I might be allowed to 
express a wish, it would be that the example 
you have so laudably set, should be followed 
in all coming years; that this twenty-second 
day of February should hereafter be marked 
in your calendar as a day for gratitude and 
gladness ; and that, in each successive return, 
it should be consecrated by some lofty purpose 
of patriotism or philanthropy. Such an observ- 
ance would be at once a beautiful offering to 
the memory of Washington, a welcome service 
to these free institutions, and a glorious testi- 
mony to the world. 

Gentlemen, I will detain you no longer. I 
wish I could have spoken to you more impres- 



61 

sively on this great theme ; but I have endea- 
voured at least to speak words of truth and 
soberness. I implore the Dispenser of all good 
to give you a place among your country's best 
benefactors ; to exalt you to become polished 
stones in the temple of universal freedom. I 
invoke especially the genius of American 
liberty to smile upon you, — that bright angel 
that was rocked in Washington's cradle, and 
that now watches around his tomb. 




AN 



ADDRESS 

# 

DELIVERED ON THE EVENING OF THE 

TWENTY SECOND OF FEBRUARY, 
MDCCCXLVII. 



BEFORE THE 



YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION 



CITY OF ALBANY. 



BY WILLIAM B. SPRAGUE, D. D. 



PUBLISHED BY RKQUEST OF THE EXECUTIVK 
COMMITTEE. 



ALBANY: 

PRINTED BY JOEL MUNSELL. 

1847. 



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